Sand-box for cars



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. V. H. WILLSON. SAND BOX FOR CARS.

No. 444,034. 1 Patented Jan. 6, 1891.

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W. V. H. WILLSON. SAND BOX FOR 0411s.

Patented Jan. 6, 18914 ZZZZ%;

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UNITED STATES PATENT "FFICE.

WALTER VANDER HEYDEN WILLSON, OF TROY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HERBERTF. ASHTON, OF VEST TROY, NEYV YORK.

FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,034, dated January6, 1891.

Application filed September 25, 1890. Serial No. 366,093. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER VANDER HEY- DEN WILLsON, of the cit-y ofTroy, county of Rensselaer, and State of New York, have inventedanewandusefullmprovementin Sand- Boxes for Cars, and of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements upon that class of apparatus whichis used to supto ply sand to the tracks of electro-motor and other carswhen the tracks are slippery, so as to'increase the traction capacity ofthe wheels.

My invention consists (as will be more fully I 5 detailed hereinafter inconnection with its illustration) in the combination, with ahop per orbox provided with a discharge-passage at its lower end and adapted toreceive and contain sand, of a wheel having a shaft with bearings 011which to turn within said box or hopper and provided with buckets, withsaid wheel so arranged with relation to the interior of the box orhopper that the outer edge of the buckets will be so close to the sides2 5 thereof as to prevent sand from passing through the opening in thebottom of the hopper when the wheel is at rest, and when the latter isturned that each bucket will deliver to the bottom opening of the hopperthe 0 sand which it holds, so as to have it pass therefrom into a chuteleading to a point over the track.

Accompanying this specification to form a part of it there are twoplates of drawings 3 5 containing four figures illustrating myinvention,with the same designation of parts by letter-reference used in all ofthem.

Of theillustrations, Figure 1- is a top view of the apparatus containingmy invention, with the latter shown as applied to the under side of acar with the floor of the latter and that of one of its end platformsshown as removed. Fig. 2 is a section takenlongitudinallythrough thecar-floor and one of the end platformfloors, showing in elevation one ofmy sand-- boxes located within and at one end of the car where it wouldbe beneath one of the carseats were the latter shown. This view shows ameans for operating the sand-wheels. Fi 3 shows a section taken on theline 00 00 of Fi l, with the parts increased in size.

Fig. 4 shows a modification in which one sand-box is used beneath thecar-bottom, said box being provided with branch chutes leading from themain discharge at the hopper-bottom to each of the rails of the track,with the carbottom shown in cross-section, the hopper shown in centrallongitudinal section, with the wheels and gears operating the shaft ofthe latter shown in elevation.

The several parts of the mechanism thus illustrated are designated byletter reference and the function of the parts is described as follows:

The letter B designates the car-bottom, C the car-wheels, and T thetrack.

The letter H designates the hopper, having a bottom opening 0, as shownat Fig. 3.

The letter I designates the sand-wheels, of which, as shown at Fig. 2,there are two upon one shaft S to be operated connectedly. These wheelsare each made with buckets B and each of these sand-wheels is arrangedwithin a hopper, so that the ends of the bucketarms a thereof Will, asthe wheel revolves, pass close to the inner wall E of the hopper H, sothat when the wheel is at rest no sand will pass down between the endsof the bracket arms and the hopper-bottom, but so that when the wheel isturned each of the brackets upon the wheel when going down willdischarge the sand they hold into the opening 0, to pass through thelatter to the chute 0 when the sand is distributed on the track. Toinsure the delivery of the sand in measured quantities, the lower partof the hopper is rounded out at E semicircularly to correspond to thetraverse made by the outer edges of the radially-arranged buckets, andso as to leave just enough space between the edges of the buckets andthe bottom E for the latter to pass, but so as to prevent the sand frompassing between the bucket-arms and the rounded surface of the hopper.lVhereafree passage of the sand occurs, as when a valve is opened 5 atthe bottom, the amount of sand passing down is irregular, and often thebox becomes exhausted of its contents before the trip of a car iscompleted from such an irregularmeans of delivery, but by using bucketsthat fill [0O with and empty the sand as the sand-wheel is rotated themeasure of sand titiiVOl'tHi is regulated.

To operate the wheel any well-known means may be employed, that shownbeing a crank A on the vertical shaft 5, having a beveled gear G on itslower end, where, beneath the end platform floor F, this beveledgearwheel G meshes into another beveled gearwheel G on the end of theshaft with the other end of the latter opposite to that on which thegear-wheel G is located, being eonstructcd with a worm-gear \V whichmeshes into a gear-wheel (i on the shaft 5*.

In the modification shown at Fig. ithe shaft S of the sand-wheel \V isoperated by a beveled gear g on the shaft in, and this gearwheel meshesinto a beveled gear-wheel 011 the shaft S to con'imunicate motion tosaid sand-wheel. When one sand-wheel and hop per are used on theactuatin -shaft S and located centrally, as shown at Fig. i, the hopperdischarges the sand into two chutes 0, one of which runs to each side ofthe car to distribute sand to each of the rails forming the track. Whenit is desired to operate the mechanism thus described,the shaft S of thebucket-wheel is turned by the crank on the vertical shaft S, which, bymeans of the geared connection the lower end of the latter makes withthe shaft S and the worm-gear connection the latter shaft makes with theshaft (F, on which one or two sets of like apparatus. as shown. As thewheel \V is turned so as to revolve within the sand A contained in thehopper, the buckets becomefilled and are each emptied through theopening 0 as the buckets each pass over thelatter, with the outer edgesof the buckets closing against the interior walls E of the hopper toprevent the escape of any sand from the hopper other than that deliveredby the buckets, with the sand so set free by the latter passing into achute to be dropped upon the track.

The sand-box and combined bucket-wheel tliusillustrated can be appliedto the bottom of the car, as shown at Fig. 1,01 it can be arranged tohave the hopper part project up into the car, as shown at Fig. 2, and ina position where the body of said hopper would be beneath one of theseats. The hopper is preferably made of galvanized sheet iron, and thebuckets or the wheel are preferably made of sheet metal.

As the operation of the hopper made as described, in combination with abucket-wheel arranged to be turned therein, would perform the samecooperative function whether the shaft of the bucket-wheel was operatedby the mechanism which 1 illustrate and de scribe or some othermechanism that would operate the wheel to turn in the hopper in the samemanner, hence I do not limit my 1 invention of the combined hopper andwheel, i as I illustrate and describe them to the par- 4 ticular meansshown to operate said wheel.

I am aware that a sand-delivery box has been patented in which arotating valve was arranged in the bottom of a hopper-opening andconstructed to turn with a shaft below the la ter, and so that when saidvalve was open the sand could run down in a free passsage from thehopper to the chute, with the valve-shaft of this older device providedwith a pinion that meshed into a pinion upon an agitator shaft, whichlatter was arranged within the hopper, the whole being operated by arack that meshed into the pinion on the valve-shaft and by which, whenthe rack was reeiprocated, the agitator and the valve werercciprocatingly rotated with the valve when open, furnishing a freepassage of the sand from the hopper to the chute. This device -differsfrom mine in the fact that I use no valve to open and close an openingin the bottom of the hopper.

Having thus described my invention, what i. claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. In an apparatus for distributing sand to a car-track, thecombination, with a hopper adapted to contain sand and constructed witha rounded-out bottom having a dischargeopeniug, of a wheel havingperimctral buckets, with said wheel constructed to be rotated withinsaid hopper and the rounded bottom thereof, and said buckets constructedto deliver sand to said bottom-opening when said wheel is rotated and toprevent the delivery of the sand through said opening when the wheel isat rest, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an apparatus for distributing sand to a car-track, thecombination, with a hopper adapted to contain sand and provided with arounded-out bottom provided with an openingand connectedcoliveyingcliute, of a sandwheel having perimetral buckets, with saidwheel constructed to be rotated within said hopper and the roundedbottom thereof, and said buckets constructed to deliver sand to saidbottom-opening and chute when said wheel is rotated and to prevent thedelivery of sand through said opening when the wheel is at rest,substantially in the manner as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at Troy, New York, this 19th day of July, 1890, andiu theprescnceof the two witmesses whose names are hereto written.

WALTER YANltllR lllllDllN WILLSUX.

Witnesses:

CHARLES BRIN'J NALL, W. E. HAGAN.

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